diff --git a/gitlab-runner-wrapper b/gitlab-runner-wrapper
index cfa2a8f..15a33ff 100644
--- a/gitlab-runner-wrapper
+++ b/gitlab-runner-wrapper
@@ -11,11 +11,18 @@ if [[ -n "$PODMAN_RUNNER_DEBUG" ]]; then
     _debug_args="--log-level=$PODMAN_RUNNER_DEBUG"
 fi
 
-if [[ "$1" == "run" ]] && [[ ! -S "/tmp/podman-run-1000/podman/podman.sock" ]]; then
+SOCKET="/tmp/podman-run-1000/podman/podman.sock"
+if [[ "$1" == "run" ]] && [[ ! -S "$SOCKET" ]]; then
     podman $_debug_args system service -t 0 &
     /usr/local/bin/podman-in-podman-maintenance &
     # Prevent SIGHUP propagation to podman process
     disown -ar
+    sleep 1s  # Give podman a chance to get going
+    # Verify podman is listening on it's socket
+    if [[ ! -S "$SOCKET" ]]; then
+        echo "ERROR: Inner-podman system service failed to start, expecting to find socket '$SOCKET'. Are all volume's owned & writeable by $(id -u podman):$(id -g podman)?" > /dev/stderr
+        exit 1
+    fi
 fi
 
 exec gitlab-runner "$@"